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Kiprusoff remains with Calgary despite rumours of trade with Toronto

Wednesday, 04.03.2013 / 6:35 PM
The Canadian Press

CALGARY - The Calgary Flames completed one minor deal at the NHL trade deadline, but the bigger news was the trade they didn't make.

Goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff remained in Calgary after the deadline passed despite rumours he might be sent to the Toronto Maple Leafs in the latest step of the Flames' rebuilding process.

"I met with Kipper this morning and Kipper indicated that he really would like to remain with the Calgary Flames," Feaster said.

Kiprusoff and his wife welcomed a baby boy into the world last month, and Feaster said that weighed in on the decision.

"From his perspective given the family situation and the new baby, he just doesn't feel that he's ready to move on, that he didn't want to go to another organization (and) that he would like to finish things here," he said. "I think the world of him. I love the competitor that he is. This has been a hard time. The reality of it is that there are a lot of difficult circumstances here."

Feaster finalized one minor deal on Wednesday by trading Blake Comeau to the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for a fifth-round pick in the 2013 NHL draft. The 27-year-old winger recorded four goals and added three assists in 33 games with the Flames this season.

"Certainly I thought that there were some things that we put out there, some players that we put out there that I thought might be attractive depending upon how things went down today for other teams as far as some depth opportunities for teams," he said. "It takes two teams to get a deal done and sometimes you just don't have a trading partner."

Feaster confirmed that he was in discussions with two teams, who were interested in acquiring Kiprusoff, whose cap hit will remain at $5.8 million next season despite the fact that he will only earn $1.5 million.

"One of those teams then got back and said we're not in a situation where we can take the cap hit of his contract for next year," Feaster said. "The team that continued to be interested was Toronto so I entered into discussions … with Dave Nonis and ultimately gave Toronto permission to speak with Miikka and his agent, Larry Kelly."

Those talks broke off once Kiprusoff made up his mind to stay in Calgary.

"Miikka was clear that he didn't want to lead Toronto on, that he didn't want to go there if his heart wasn't 100 per cent set on it and committed to it," Feaster said. "Again, in having the conversation with Miikka today, we made the decision that we're going to keep Miikka Kiprusoff here. He is a member of the Calgary Flames."

The 36-year-old Finnish goalie has posted a 6-10-2 record in 18 games with the Flames this season to go with an .868 save percentage and a 3.64 goals-against average.

Originally drafted by the Sharks in the fifth round (116th overall) of the 1995 NHL draft, Kiprusoff has compiled a career record of 317-209-71 to go along with a 2.48 goals-against average and a .912 career save percentage. He has also posted a 25-28 record in 56 career playoff games to go with a 2.32 GAA and a .921 save percentage.

NHL and the NHL Shield are registered trademarks and NHL Mobile name and logo, NHL GameCenter and Unlimited NHL are trademarks of the National Hockey League. NHL and NHL team marks are the property of the NHL and its teams.